Development of a Simplified Arabic Questionnaire of Health-Related Quality of Life for Children With Cystic Fibrosis.

BACKGROUND

The measurement of the quality of life (QoL) of cystic fibrosis (CF) children in the Arabic world is of substantial importance. However, the relative lack of disease-specific Arabic QoL questionnaires may represent a major challenge.

OBJECTIVES

To develop a simple questionnaire that could be used for assessing and monitoring the level of QoL in CF children, particularly in Arabic-speaking populations.

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional study involving 50 children and adolescent patients with CF and their caregivers who completed 2 self-administered questionnaires on health-related quality of life (HRQOL); the Arabic simplified CF Questionnaire-Child version for children aged more than 8 years, and the Parent version for children aged from 2 to 8 years. The psychometric properties of the questionnaires were evaluated. Children's data and clinical severity scoring were also collected.

RESULTS

The CF QoL questionnaires (child and parent versions) exhibited good internal consistency and reliability, with Cronbach's α values being (α = 0.91, 0.871). Item-item and item-total correlation analyses showed adequate construct validity (0.31-0.86) and (0.277-0.682). Furthermore, patients aged 2-8 years scored significantly better than those aged more than 8 years for the total HRQOL score (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The simplified CF QoL questionnaires are reliable and valid measures of HRQOL for CF children, especially in Arabic-speaking populations. The younger children with CF showed satisfactory health-related QoL levels compared to the older ones. These findings support the important role of a careful psychological assessment of CF children as a part of monitoring the disease progression.